Who am I?

​I am a professional cellist and teacher in Atlanta, but I am not your typical musician. When people think of a classical music concert, they think stuffy. Lots of rules about when not to clap. Lots of evil-eyeing from older people who know the ropes of the art music scene.

You know what I am talking about.

I want to break down that invisible wall between performers and audience. Why must we be enclosed in a hermetically sealed box on stage, not daring to engage or even look at the human beings we are playing for?

The response I hear most is that we must do this out of respect for the music.

For me, music is communication. It is written by a person. For people. We are actually doing it a disservice to put it on a pedestal.

Call me crazy, but I like to talk to the audience during my performances to fill in the behind-the-scenes information on the composers and history. I like to show the dance steps of a sarabande before I play it so that the listeners know why certain beats of the music are emphasized. When I start to play, no matter what genre or venue, I can’t help but let the music move me.

Let's talk about performance anxiety!

​This is an important aspect of all of our lives that seems to be a taboo topic in the music world. No one seems to be able to admit that it is a powerful factor that can cause even the best musicians to give up music altogether.

It doesn't have to be like that.

There is a lot you can do yourself to help alleviate or even harness the symptoms of performance stress.

I want to reach out to every cellist in the world! So... I started blogging and making educational videos a few years ago. Maybe there is something that can help make your cello life easier. Here are a few of the topics I have addressed: